2388 Football Package

I was watching football not long ago and reflecting on why it brings in such great ratings.  There are those that sneer that it's because it appeals to the baser side of human nature, keeping us away from more intellectual pursuits.  That it's nothing more than a slightly less fatal form of gladiatorial combat left over from the fall of the Roman Empire.  But I don't think so.

Football is actually a great social bonding enterprise, and broader, a bit of cultural cement.  Bringing disparate folks together to root for their totemic tribes true, but also a larger endeavor populated by many tribes, so an exercise in unity of them all as well.

Plus, you got some cool names for the teams.  Like the playoff match up recently, the Colts versus the Broncos.  By the way, one might argue that the word "versus," one of the few fully intact Latin words to survive the Roman Empire, lingers because of gladiatorial football. 

Anyhow, I remember thinking when I saw the Colts/Broncos match up.  Is this a football game or a horse race?

Or take the Cowboys and the Packers.  Talk about iconic symbols.  The Cowboys, free spirits of the open range, against the Packers, bold symbol of working in a factory butchering and packaging meat products. 

And yet a symbol of unity in a way.  The cowboys, driving that live beef on the hoof up the Great Plains to the packing plants of the North, where they were slaughtered and reduced to edible tidbits to be swallowed by American consumers. 

There's an allegory in there somewhere, poised between free ranging energy, packaging, commercialism, and tailgate parties, but I don't have time to figure it out now. 

There's a new highlight reel I want to watch on the internet. 

America, ya gotta love it.